Protect Your Brand by Instituting Digital Rights Management

Administrator

Posted on 3.01.2015

By Jack McGannon, CEO of Canto

Chances are the last time you searched
for an image on Google you found what
you were seeking and shared it on a social
media channel without giving a second
thought as to whether that image
was copyrighted or not.

Copyright infringement is not just a problem for
individual Internet users who stream movies and
download music illegally, it’s also a major threat for
companies, and it can adversely affect organizations
and their daily operations.

Companies generally underestimate the potential
risk copyright problems pose. And more often than not,
digital rights management (DRM) is only taken seriously
when a claim for damages is on the table from the licensee
who is being infringed upon.

Understand the Importance of DRM

DRM is a practice used by a variety of companies including
hardware manufacturers, publishers and copyright
holders. First-generation DRM focused on the control of
copying, while second-generation DRM aims to control
executing, viewing, copying, printing and altering works
or hardware devices. According to U.S. copyright laws,
intellectual products such as pictures, videos, photos,
or artistic, literary or academic texts are the intellectual
property of the creator, which may be an author, photographer,
filmmaker or artist. According to the law,
only respective creators may decide whether or not their
works may be reproduced or used by others. The ability
to control the use of content on the Internet has become
increasingly difficult as digitization has made it possible
to duplicate content easily.

Using images found on the Internet for website content
can be very risky. Under the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA), a photographer can petition
a website or Web page to be taken down if it’s using
unauthorized or unlicensed works. In one such case,
$40,000 was awarded to a photographer in a jury trial
because a business used his photos in a media campaign
without consent. It was a very costly lesson in DRM that
was easily avoidable had the organization instituted a
solid DRM policy and enforced it.

One way organizations can avoid copyright infringement,
and potential lawsuits and fines, is to use
an automated control system that logs license information.
However, in order for the automated mechanism
to be effective, a system that can process this information
must also be implemented. One way this can be
accomplished is through the use of a centralized digital
asset management (DAM) system that stores licensing
and copyright information along with images.

One of the advantages of using a DAM is that users
don‘t have to enter all the information manually. Since
most stock images and photos that are purchased from
photographers, graphic artists or creative agencies already
provide information in their metadata, the DAM
can be configured so the license information is imported
with the images simultaneously. Automating processes
saves time and money, while preventing the inevitable
human errors that can occur during manual data entry.

DAM systems can handle myriad tasks including
storing files and metadata in a central repository, annotating
assets and cataloging assets so they can be more
easily retrieved. They are also instrumental in the retrieval
and delivery of assets in appropriate file formats,
so assets can be used in accordance with license and
copyright agreement.

Make DRM Part of the Corporate Culture

The DAM can do most of the heavy lifting to support a
DRM policy, as long as it’s being enforced company-wide.
Some of the most common reasons DRM policies fail are:
Information isn’t captured – There’s no repository
or place to capture the data.

Too many moving parts – Complicated and impractical
workflows lead to short cuts, especially if licensing
information is held in a separate external database
requiring extra steps, and time, to hunt for it.
Out of sight, out of mind – It’s very easy to forget
that one may inadvertently infringe on a copyright, putting
an organization at risk for fines or a lawsuit.
In order to avoid failure of a DRM policy and change
how a company deals with copyright-sensitive material,
the first step is to change the corporate culture
by communicating the policy, the issue of infringement,
potential consequences and the importance of
policy enforcement.

If employees are well informed about the risk of
copyright and license infringement, and can comprehend
the reasons for the policy, they will be more likely
to adhere to the policy and before long DRM will become
a critical component of corporate culture.

CEO Jack McGannon is charged with growing the value of Canto by offering its customers technology solutions that address their business needs. McGannon has more than 15 years of background within the technology world.